Effect On Black People Is Overlooked In Trump’s Latest Effort To Punish Immigrants

The proposed rule was the Trump administration’s latest attempt to tilt immigration policy in favor of English speakers.

The overwhelming narrative surrounding immigration in the U.S. has long centered on Latinos, Hispanics and Central Americans. But in addition to those groups, immigrants from majority Black countries will also be left vulnerable to tougher immigration regulations that could be approved soon.

A proposed rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), called “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds,” was the Trump administration’s latest attempt to rig immigration policy in favor of English speakers whose earning power was near or on a par with that of American citizens. Monday was the end of a three-month period accepting “public comments” which DHS was expected to use to help reach its final decision on the rule.

'You could either feed your kids or stay in America but you can't do both.' — This new Trump rule targets immigrants legally in the U.S.

According to the UndocuBlack Network, a nonprofit organization advocating for Black immigrants, the new rule would fall “in line with America’s racist history of preventing Black, Brown and Indigenous people from accessing resources and basic needs.”

Translated from legalese jargon, “public charge” is a “term used by U.S. immigration officials to refer to a person who is considered primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, as demonstrated by either receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense,” according to the National Immigration Law Center. “Where this consideration applies, an immigrant who is found to be ‘likely . . . to become a public charge’ may be denied admission to the U.S. or lawful permanent resident status.”)

That means that Trump and his administration think immigrants entering the U.S. are intentionally looking to live off government benefits, such as “the receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency.

The problem with that logic was that “[u]ndocumented immigrants, including DACA holders, are ineligible to receive most federal public benefits, including means-tested benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, sometimes referred to as food stamps), regular Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,” according to the National Immigration Forum.

However, “[u]ndocumented immigrants may be eligible for a handful of benefits that are deemed necessary to protect life or guarantee safety in dire situations, such as emergency Medicaid, access to treatment in hospital emergency rooms, or access to healthcare and nutrition programs under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).” And that’s what has Trump’s white nationalist administration so worried.

“The regulation also favors immigrants who speak the English language and who have earnings at or above 250 percent of the federal poverty level, which is a whopping $63,000 for a family of four,” UndocuBlack Network wrote on its website. That was a near impossible standard to meet for immigrants, let alone many American citizens, according to a list of states’ median income for four-person families that was compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

One positive sign for Black immigrants if the new rule goes into effect was that “compared with other immigrant groups, blacks are more likely to be U.S. citizens or to be proficient English speakers,” Pew Research Center found earlier this year. “Much of the recent growth in the foreign-born black population has been fueled by African migration,” Pew wrote, and “black immigrants from Africa are more likely than Americans overall to have a college degree or higher.”

Even though “[w]elfare use is high for both new arrivals and well-established immigrants,” according to a 2015 report from the Center for Immigration Studies,” undocumented immigrants have not been stealing benefits. They do, however, help pay for the public benefits American citizens receive, though, the Huffington Post reported last year.

“In reality, immigrants typically pay far more in taxes than they receive in benefits. And that includes undocumented immigrants,” HuffPost wrote. “Not only do they simply not qualify for many benefits, but undocumented immigrants also tend to keep a low profile and may not seek benefits they possibly could legitimately receive as a result. However, every year millions of undocumented immigrants not only do pay taxes, they even file their tax returns.”

All of which makes it look like the Trump administration is trying to cut off its own nose just to spite its face and prove some null talking point to bolster the president’s white nationalist rhetoric while burying the actual truth.

Or, as the UndocuBlack Network put it, “[a]nyone interested in challenging the war on poor people must fight for programs that support Black immigrants’ ability to access a better standard of living.”

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Continue reading Horrifying Scenes At The Border As The U.S. Fires Tear Gas At Mothers And Children

Horrifying Scenes At The Border As The U.S. Fires Tear Gas At Mothers And Children

The highly politicized so-called "caravan" of Central Americans who the president has used to try to strike fear in the heart of citizens finally reached the U.S. border on Sunday. And, as anticipated, a hostile greeting was awaiting them in the form of aggressive border patrol agents who fired off tear gas at migrants who were being denied their legal right to seek asylum in the United States.
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1066866674689851392
In many instances, the targets of the tear gas were women and children, who were trying to cross into the U.S. from the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. News correspondent James Frederick told NPR on Sunday that "lots of families, lots of kids who, although they weren't close there, have been feeling the effects of tear gas."
https://twitter.com/j_pedneault/status/1066807910724972545
One image from the border going viral was captured by a Reuters photographer and showed a woman at the border, presumably a mother, clutching to two small children, one barefoot, while running away from a smoking tear gas canister nearby.
The horrifying scene seemed to especially resonate with Black leaders in particular, who took to social media to express their disapproval and outrage over how America has decided to treat women and children guilty of nothing more than attempting to seek refuge in a country that pretends to pride itself on being welcoming to all.
https://twitter.com/AndrewGillum/status/1066862009021550593https://twitter.com/AyannaPressley/status/1066861809003622400https://twitter.com/CornellWBrooks/status/1066872330855636992
The violent confrontation at the border came nearly a week after a federal judge shut down the president's illegal attempt to change immigration laws that allow people seeking refuge from violence abroad to apply for asylum in the U.S.
“The rule barring asylum for immigrants who enter the country outside a port of entry irreconcilably conflicts with the INA and the expressed intent of Congress," U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar wrote Monday in his decision to block Trump's attempt to limit the ability of immigrants to request asylum. "Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden.”
After getting shut down, Trump took to Twitter on Sunday morning to put the onus on Mexico to stop asylum seekers from entering the U.S.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1066685057648214018
The messy episode took place about two months before a "Blue wave" of newly elected, progressive Democrats were scheduled to be inaugurated, bringing with them a very pro-immigration agenda that could flex the House's newfound power on the left.
In a possible indication of just that, New York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Sunday evening, "Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime."
https://twitter.com/Ocasio2018/status/1066842211084627968
Below, we've compiled a handful of photos from the border in Tijuana to underscore the humanitarian crisis that U.S. immigration policy has fostered.
SEE ALSO:
What Tighter Border Enforcement Means For Black ImmigrantsThe U.S. Immigration Border Policy Is Literally Killing People